Sets forth provisions regarding public availability of certifications and the suspension of contracting for services pending satisfaction of the certification requirement. Allows the Director to waive the applicability of this Act to a contract for services where necessary in the interest of national security, extraordinary economic harm, or patient care.
Requires any agency: (1) decision to privatize, outsource, or contract in or out for the performance of a function, after expiration of the prohibition enacted by this Act, to be based on the results of a public-private competition process meeting specified requirements; and (2) either to conduct a new public-private competition or to convert a function to performance by Federal employees if contracting out costs exceed costs of performance by Federal employees or contracting out fails to meet quality control standards.
Directs the Secretary of Labor to survey and report on the wages and quantifiable benefits provided by contractors to non-Federal personnel working under contract.
[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1152 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1152
To ensure that the business of the Federal Government is conducted in
the public interest and in a manner that provides for public
accountability, efficient delivery of services, reasonable cost
savings, and prevention of unwarranted Government expenses, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 29, 2001
Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Daschle, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Corzine, Ms.
Landrieu, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms.
Mikulski, Mr. Torricelli, Mr. Reid, Mr. Schumer, Ms. Stabenow, and Mr.
Johnson) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To ensure that the business of the Federal Government is conducted in
the public interest and in a manner that provides for public
accountability, efficient delivery of services, reasonable cost
savings, and prevention of unwarranted Government expenses, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Truthfulness,
Responsibility, and Accountability in Contracting Act of 2001''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
Sec. 3. Certification of compliance.
Sec. 4. Agency reporting systems and required reports.
Sec. 5. Requirement for public-private competition.
Sec. 6. Review of contractor performance.
Sec. 7. Survey of wages and benefits provided by contractors.
Sec. 8. Comptroller General reports.
Sec. 9. Applicability.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' means any department,
agency, bureau, commission, activity, or organization of the
United States, that employs an employee as defined under
paragraph (6).
(2) Contracting.--The term ``contracting'' means--
(A) the performance of a function by non-Federal
personnel under a contract between an agency and an
individual or another entity; and
(B) includes privatization, outsourcing,
contracting out, and contracting in, unless otherwise
specifically provided.
(3) Contracting in.--The term ``contracting in'' is the
conversion of the performance of a function by non-Federal
personnel under a contract between an agency and an individual
or other entity to the performance by employees.
(4) Contracting out.--The term ``contracting out'' means
the conversion by an agency of the performance of a function to
performance by non-Federal personnel under a contract between
an agency and an individual or other entity.
(5) Contractor.--The term ``contractor'' means an
individual or entity that performs a function for an agency
under a contract with non-Federal personnel.
(6) Employee.--The term ``employee'' means any individual
employed--
(A) as a civilian in a military department (as
defined in section 102 of title 5, United States Code);
(B) in an Executive agency (as defined in section
105 of title 5, United States Code), including an
employee who is paid from nonappropriated funds;
(C) in those units of the legislative and judicial
branches of the Federal Government having positions in
the competitive service;
(D) in the Library of Congress;
(E) in the Government Printing Office; or
(F) by the Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
(7) Function.--The term ``function'' means a service
activity, not procurement of goods.
(8) Non-federal personnel.--The term ``non-Federal
personnel'' means employed individuals who are not employees as
defined under paragraph (6).
(9) Outsourcing.--The term ``outsourcing'' means the action
by an agency to acquire services from external sources, either
from a non-Federal source or through interservice support
agreements, through a contract.
(10) Patient care.--The term ``patient care''--
(A) means direct patient medical and hospital care
that the Department of Veterans Affairs or other
Federal hospitals or clinics are not capable of
furnishing because of geographical inaccessibility,
medical emergency, or particularly unique type of care
or service required; and
(B) does not include support and administrative
services for hospital and clinic operations, including
food service, laundry services, grounds maintenance,
transportation services, office operations, and supply
processing and distribution services.
(11) Privatization.--The term ``privatization'' means the
action by an agency to exit a business line, terminate an
activity, or sell Government owned assets or operational
capabilities to the non-Federal sector.
SEC. 3. CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE.
(a) Requirements for Heads of Agencies.--
(1) Certifications.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of enactment of this Act, the head of each agency shall submit
to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget a
certification that--
(A) the agency has established a centralized
reporting system in accordance with section 4;
(B) in the case of each function of the agency that
is being performed under contracting undertaken after
the date of enactment of this Act, the contracting
function decision was based on a public-private
competition described under section 5;
(C) the agency is not managing Federal employees by
any arbitrary limitations in accordance with sections 5
and 6; and
(D) the agency is reviewing work performed by
contractors, recompeting or contracting in work when
appropriate, and subjecting to public-private
competition an approximate number of Federal employee
and contractor positions in accordance with section 6.
(2) Public availability.--The Director of the Office of
Management and Budget shall--
(A) promptly after receiving certifications under
paragraph (1)(B), publish in the Federal Register
notices of the availability of the certifications to
the public, including the names, business addresses,
and business telephone numbers of the officials from
whom the certifications can be obtained; and
(B) ensure that, after the removal of proprietary
information, the head of each agency makes the
certifications of that agency available to the public--
(i) upon request; and
(ii) on the World Wide Web.
(b) Suspension of Contracting for Services Pending Satisfaction of
Certification Requirement.--
(1) Initial determinations.--Beginning 180 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the head of an agency may not
enter into any contract for the performance of services until
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, after
reviewing the certification required under subsection (a)(1),
determines that the agency is making substantial progress
toward meeting the requirements under subsection (a)(1) (A),
(B), (C), and (D).
(2) Inapplicability.--This subsection does not apply to
work performed in the non-Federal sector before the date of
enactment of this Act.
(3) Subsequent determinations.--If an agency head is
prohibited from entering into a contract after a determination
is made under paragraph (1), that agency head may subsequently
request another determination from the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget under that paragraph.
(4) Public availability.--The Director of the Office of
Management and Budget shall--
(A) promptly after making a determination as to
whether an agency is making substantial progress under
paragraph (1), publish that determination in the
Federal Register; and
(B) make that determination available to the
public--
(i) upon request; and
(ii) on the World Wide Web.
(c) Waiver of Suspension.--
(1) In general.--The Director of the Office of Management
and Budget may waive the applicability of this section to a
contract for services if the Director determines that it is
necessary to do so in the interest of the national security,
extraordinary economic harm, or patient care.
(2) Notice.--After granting any waiver under this
subsection, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
shall promptly publish a notice of that waiver in the Federal
Register that--
(A) identifies the facilities, units, or activities
affected;
(B) explains the justification for the waiver; and
(C) identifies the duration of the waiver.
(d) GAO Monitoring.--While an agency is operating under a
suspension of contracting authority under subsection (b), the
Comptroller General shall--
(1) monitor the agency's compliance with the requirements
of this Act; and
(2) submit to Congress, every 60 days, a report on the
extent of the agency's compliance with such requirements.
(e) Exception.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding subsection (b), an agency
may undertake a contracting effort of a function if the
function--
(A) is not performed by Federal employees at the
time of the undertaking; and
(B) under the contracting would be performed by--
(i) the blind, as defined under section
5(1) of the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (41 U.S.C.
48b(1)); or
(ii) individuals with a disability as
defined under section 7(9) of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 705(9)).
(2) Termination of contract.--If the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget determines that the performance of the
function in a contract entered into under paragraph (1) is not
being performed by individuals described under clause (i) or
(ii) of paragraph (1)(B), the contract shall be immediately
terminated.
SEC. 4. AGENCY REPORTING SYSTEMS AND REQUIRED REPORTS.
(a) Centralized Reporting System.--Not later than 180 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, each agency shall establish a
centralized reporting system in accordance with guidance promulgated by
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget that allows the
agency to generate periodic reports on the contracting efforts of the
agency. Such centralized reporting system shall be designed to enable
the agency to generate reports on efforts regarding both contracting
out and contracting in.
(b) Reports on Contracting Efforts.--
(1) Initial reports.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, every agency shall generate and
submit to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget a
report on the contracting efforts of the agency undertaken
during the fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year
during which this Act is enacted. Such report shall comply with
the requirements in paragraph (3).
(2) Subsequent reports.--For the current fiscal year and
every fiscal year thereafter, every agency shall complete and
submit to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget a
report on the contracting efforts undertaken by the agency
during that fiscal year. The report for a fiscal year shall
comply with the requirements in paragraph (3), and shall be
completed and submitted not later than the end of the first
fiscal quarter of the subsequent fiscal year.
(3) Contents.--With regard to each contracting effort
undertaken by the agency, the reports referred to in this
subsection shall include the following information:
(A) The contract number and the Federal supply
class or service code.
(B) The names, business addresses, and business
telephone numbers of the officials who supervised the
contracting effort.
(C) The competitive process used or the statutory
or regulatory authority relied on to enter into the
contract without public-private competition.
(D) The cost of Federal employee performance at the
time the work was contracted out (if the work had
previously been performed by Federal employees).
(E) The cost of Federal employee performance under
the most efficient organization plan identified for
that performance (if the work was contracted out
through OMB Circular A-76).
(F) The anticipated cost of contractor performance,
based on the award.
(G) The current cost of contractor performance.
(H) The actual savings, expressed both as a dollar
amount and as a percentage of the cost of performance
by Federal employees, based on the current cost, and an
explanation of the difference, if any.
(I) A description of the quality control process
used by the agency in connection with monitoring the
contracting effort, identification of the applicable
quality control standards, the frequency of the
preparation of quality control reports, and an
assessment of whether the contractor met, exceeded, or
failed to achieve the quality control standards.
(J) The number of employees performing the
contracting effort under the contract and any related
subcontracts.
(c) Report on Contracting in Efforts.--
(1) In general.--For the current fiscal year and every
fiscal year thereafter, every agency shall complete and submit
to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget a report
on the contracting in efforts undertaken by the agency during
that fiscal year. The report for a fiscal year shall comply
with the requirements in paragraph (2), and shall be completed
and submitted not later than the end of the first fiscal
quarter of the subsequent fiscal year.
(2) Contents.--The reports referred to in paragraph (1)
shall include for each contracting in effort undertaken by the
agency the following information:
(A) A description of the type of work involved.
(B) The names, business addresses, and business
telephone numbers of the officials who supervised the
contracting in effort.
(C) The cost of performance at the time the work
was contracted in.
(D) The current cost of performance by Federal
employees or military personnel.
(d) Report on Employee Positions.--Not later than 30 days after the
end of each fiscal year, every agency shall submit to the Office of
Management and Budget a report on the number of Federal employee
positions and positions held by non-Federal employees under a contract
between the agency and an individual or entity that has been subject to
public-private competition during that fiscal year.
(e) Submission of Reports to Congress.--
(1) In general.--The Director of the Office of Management
and Budget shall compile all reports submitted under this
section and submit the reports to the committees referred to
under paragraph (2), not later than 120 days after the end of
the applicable fiscal year.
(2) Committees.--The reports compiled under this subsection
shall be submitted to the Committee on Government Reform of the
House of Representatives and to the Committee on Governmental
Affairs of the Senate.
(f) Public Availability of Reports.--
(1) Publications.--The Director of the Office of Management
and Budget shall promptly publish in the Federal Register
notices including a description of when the reports referred to
in this section are available to the public and the names,
business addresses, and business telephone numbers of the
officials from whom the reports may be obtained.
(2) Availability on internet.--The reports referred to in
this section shall be made available through the Internet.
(3) Proprietary and national security information.--
Proprietary information or information to which section
552(b)(1) of title 5, United States Code, applies shall be
excised from information published or reports made available
under this subsection.
(g) Review.--The Director of the Office of Management and Budget
shall review the reports referred to in this section and consult with
the head of the agency regarding the content of such reports.
SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT FOR PUBLIC-PRIVATE COMPETITION.
(a) In General.--
(1) Public-private competition.--After the date of
enactment of this Act and in accordance with section 3, any
decision by an agency to initiate or continue a privatization,
outsourcing, contracting in, or contracting out for the
performance of a function shall be based on the results of a public-
private competition process that--
(A) formally compares the costs of Federal employee
performance of the function with the costs of the
performance by a contractor;
(B) employs the most efficient organization process
described in OMB Circular A-76; and
(C) is conducted in consultation or through
bargaining with the exclusive representative of the
Federal employees performing the function, if
applicable.
(2) Inapplicability.--This subsection does not apply to--
(A) work performed in the non-Federal sector before
the date of enactment of this Act; or
(B) contracts with values less than $1,000,000 for
work not performed at the time by Federal employees, if
the work is not divided, modified, or in any way
changed for the purpose of not performing a public-
private competition.
(b) Determination of Costs.--
(1) In general.--An agency shall commence or continue the
performance of a function by Federal employees if, under a cost
comparison performed under a public-private competition process
described in subsection (a), the agency determines that at
least a 10-percent cost savings would not be achieved by
performance of the function by a contractor.
(2) Undertaking contracting effort during suspension.--
During the suspension established under section 3, an agency
may undertake a contracting effort made under the issuance of a
waiver granted under section 3 for a function that is not
currently performed by Federal employees if the agency has
determined the total cost to the agency of performing the
function by a contractor and the total cost to the agency of
having those services performed by Federal employees and that
the contractor performance costs are less than the Federal
employee performance costs.
(c) Inapplicability of Certain Limitation.--Notwithstanding any
limitation on the number of Federal employees established by law,
regulation, or policy, an agency may continue to employ, or may hire,
such Federal employees as are necessary to perform work acquired
through public-private competition required by this section.
SEC. 6. REVIEW OF CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE.
(a) In General.--
(1) Agency action after review.--If a report completed
under section 4 indicates that, for 2 consecutive years, the
actual cost of privatization, outsourcing, or contracting out
of a particular function exceeds the anticipated cost of
contractor performance, based on the award (referred to in
section 4(b)(3)(G)), or fails to substantially meet quality
control standards (referred to in section 4(b)(3)(J)), the
agency shall either conduct a new public-private competition or
convert the function to performance by Federal employees not
later than the earlier of the date of the expiration of the
contract or the beginning of the first fiscal year which is not
more than 12 months after the initial determination that the
cost of a contracting effort exceeds the anticipated cost of
contractor performance or that quality standards have not been
substantially met. Any resulting terminations for convenience
may be undertaken without cost to the United States Government.
(2) Inapplicability.--This subsection does not apply to
work performed in the non-Federal sector before the date of
enactment of this Act.
(b) Public-Private Competition.--
(1) In general.--For each fiscal year, an agency shall
subject to public-private competition an approximate number of
Federal employee positions and positions held by non-Federal
employees under a contract between an agency and an individual
or entity.
(2) Particular functions.--In complying with this section,
agencies shall, to the extent possible, subject to public-
private competition those positions held by non-Federal
employees under a contract between an agency and an individual
or entity that is associated with functions that are or have
been performed at least in part by Federal employees at any
time on or after October 1, 1980.
(c) Inapplicability of Certain Limitation.--Notwithstanding any
limitation on the number of Federal employees established by law,
regulation, or policy, an agency may continue to employ or may hire
such Federal employees as are necessary to perform work acquired
through public-private competition required by this section.
SEC. 7. SURVEY OF WAGES AND BENEFITS PROVIDED BY CONTRACTORS.
(a) Requirement To Conduct Survey.--Using information provided by
agencies, the Secretary of Labor shall conduct a survey of the wages
and quantifiable benefits provided by contractors to non-Federal
personnel working in various occupations under contracts between
agencies and individuals or entities that were entered into during the
2 fiscal years immediately preceding the date of enactment of this Act.
(b) Review.--
(1) In general.--The Director of the Office of Personnel
Management shall--
(A) review the analysis prepared by the Secretary
of Labor under subsection (a) and determine the extent
to which the wages and quantifiable benefits paid by
contractors are comparable to the wages and
quantifiable benefits earned by Federal employees; and
(B) issue a report on the findings of the review.
(2) Submission.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the report shall be submitted to the
Committee on Government Reform of the House of Representatives
and to the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and
published in the Federal Register.
(3) Proprietary and national security information.--
Proprietary information or information to which section
552(b)(1) of title 5, United States Code, applies shall be
excised from information published or reports made available
under this subsection.
(c) Guidance.--The Director of the Office of Management and Budget
shall issue guidance to implement this section.
SEC. 8. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORTS.
The Comptroller General shall report to the Committee on Government
Reform of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Governmental Affairs of the Senate every 60 days after the date of
enactment of this Act on the compliance by agencies with the
requirements of this Act.
SEC. 9. REPEAL OF CERTAIN REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General.--Sections 2461, 2461a, 2463, and 2467(c) of title
10, United States Code, are repealed.
(b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--The table of sections for
chapter 141 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking the
items relating to sections 2461, 2461a, and 2463.
SEC. 10. APPLICABILITY.
This Act does not apply with respect to the following:
(1) The General Accounting Office.
(2) Depot-level maintenance and repair of the Department of
Defense (as defined in section 2460 of title 10, United States
Code).
(3) Contracts for the study, planning, surveying, design,
engineering, and construction of new structures or the
remodeling of or additions made to existing structures,
facilities, and capital projects, except this Act shall apply
to all contracts for the repair and maintenance of any
structures.
(4) Financial assistance awards (including grants and
cooperative agreements).
(5) Specialized scientific and technical contracts for work
not performed at the time by Federal employees that are
undertaken for research and development, except this Act shall
apply to all contracts for work in support of research and
development.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line